'Stealth Omicron may trigger another COVID wave in India': IMA amid rising cases in Asia

VIJAYAWADA: IMA Andhra Pradesh has urged people not to let down their guard against Covid-19 with decreasing cases, as reports indicate that stealth omicron, a new subvariant of omicron, which is more contagious than Omicron, is making its presence felt worldwide.

In a press release issued on Thursday, the IMA advised people to continue to wear masks and follow Covid Appropriate Behaviour.

The fastspreading Stealth Omicron variant is fuelling China’s biggest outbreak since the start of the pandemic two years ago, it pointed out.

“Each variant of Omicron has its own set of unique mutations. The most common was BA.1, which quickly spread across the world. BA.1 was almost entirely responsible for the record shattering spike in cases this winter, the so-called third wave. But there are a number of reasons that epidemiologists doubt that BA.2 will drive a massive surge. British researchers have found that BA.2 infection does not carry a higher risk of hospitalisation than BA.1,” IMA AP president Dr C Srinivasa Raju said.

At first, BA.1 is thousand times as common as BA.2. But in early 2022, BA.2, the so-called stealth omicron, started to be found in a larger proportion of new infections.

All versions of Omicron are highly contagious, which is why the variant swiftly crowded out earlier forms of the coronavirus, he added.

Raju said the vaccines continued to protect people against severe disease.